Envious Casca

A Christmas gathering at Lexham Manor brings together the quarrelsome relatives and dependants of the wealthy Nathaniel Herriard. Nathaniel dislikes the celebration and most of his guests, but his brother Joseph insists on creating a traditional family holiday despite mounting hostility.

When Nathaniel is found stabbed inside a locked bedroom, Inspector Hemingway faces a closed circle of suspects and an apparently impossible crime. Family money, frustrated careers and long-standing resentments are concealed beneath the decorations and forced goodwill.